


Flying High

by BlueEyesAndPaperBooks



Series: Flying High [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Annabeth Chase - Freeform, F/M, modern!AU, percabeth, percy jackson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 19:55:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8026861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueEyesAndPaperBooks/pseuds/BlueEyesAndPaperBooks
Summary: Percy didn't expect to meet her on an airplane. Percy hated airplanes. Nothing good came out of the unexpected turbulence and impending doom 36,000 feet below. They only thing good about planes was that they could get him places faster. And also Annabeth.





	Flying High

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first official post on AO3 and contribution to the PJO fandom! Enjoy!

Percy’s feet pounded the tile of the Los Angeles airport as he bolted towards Gate 3B. He raced past restaurants and narrowly avoided hitting a little kid in the face with his duffel bag. “Watch it!” and “Slow down!” were thrown his way multiple times by people he almost ran over, but he hardly heard them over the sound of his heavy breathing and an imaginary clock ticking in his mind.

He glanced down at his watch. 11:43. Gates closed at 11:45.

It was bad enough that his alarm didn’t go off on time, security was slow and the person behind the counter at Subway seemed to take their sweet, goddamn time making his sandwich, but the gate to his flight just had to be at the other side of the fricking airport.

Finally, he saw the sign and bolted in its direction. He raced towards the flight attendant and the entrance to the plane and handed her his ticket with a breathy smile.

She smiled back at him, “Right on time,” she gestured down the hall towards the plane. Percy nodded in her direction and made his way down the ramp.

He was welcomed into the plane by other attendants and was pointed down the narrow aisle.

“25B...25B…” He murmured to himself while scanning the row numbers as he passed. 23...24...25! He found his seat, put his bag in the overhead compartment and sat down in the chair without looking at the person he was sharing the row with. He closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Almost late, were we?” said a voice in the seat to his right. 

He choked out a laugh, “Nearly.” He peeled open his eyes and looked over to the source of the voice. When he saw her face, his heart nearly stopped beating.

The beautiful girl sitting next to him scanned his face. Her silver eyes danced playfully in the artificial lighting of the plane and Percy caught the scent of lemons emanating from her au naturale curly, blonde hair. A smirk played on her lips as her head tilted oh so slightly to the side.

She continued to stare at him.

“W-what?” Percy stuttered, feeling self-conscious under the gaze of this very pretty girl.

She chuckled and sat up straight, opening up a thick book she had on her lap, “Your face is flushed.” She responded, with a hint of amusement in her voice.

Percy tossed his hands in the air, “Well, yeah! It’s not like I just ran across the entire LA airport.” He sat up in his chair.

The girl closed her book and turned to him. “But the question is why did you have to run across the entire LA airport?” A corner of her lip lifted up in a sarcastic smirk.

Percy opened his mouth to respond, then closed it, then opened it again, only to sigh and sink into his chair, “I overslept.” He grumbled.

The girl was biting her lip, trying to hold back her laughter.

“But I swear that dude at Subway was purposely trying to make me late!” He added with indignance.

The girls’ attempt attempt at holding back her laughter was futile, she burst out laughing at Percy’s misery. But he had to say, her laugh was as gorgeous as she was.

“I’m serious!” He sat up, annoyance from the fast food experience bubbling up to the surface again, “The dude was so slow! It was like he had to make each and every piece of turkey a perfect triangle before he wrapped it up.” He crossed his arms with a huff.

His face must’ve been hilarious, because the girl just laughed harder, covering her mouth to try and muffle her hysterics. 

She caught her breath and removed her hand from her mouth. Percy noticed her red face and pointed at her accusingly, “Now look who’s face is flushed!”

She smacked his hand away and leaned toward her head slightly toward him with a cheeky grin spreading across her face, “It isn’t nice to point at strangers.” She puffed out another laugh through her nose and turned back to her book.

Percy scoffed in disbelief as he looked at this girl not-so-innocently reading her book and trying not to smile. He turned toward her and held out his hand, “My name’s Percy.”

She looked back up at him with big, grey eyes, “Annabeth,” She took his hand and shook it.

They smiled at each other just as the pilot announced that they were beginning down to stretch and would take off soon.

Percy’s smile melted off his face, his bickering with Annabeth had momentarily distracted him from his anxiety. He hated planes, he hated them so much. His mind had previously been too preoccupied with making it to the gate on time and the beautiful girl sitting next to him to register his fear of flying.

He gripped the armrests on his seat and gritted his teeth as the plane lurched and started moving forward. Annabeth noticed his discomfort and a concerned look replaced her previously joyful one.

She tilted her head to the side as she looked at him and said, “Is this your first time flying?”

“No,” Percy managed to get out through clenched teeth, “Just really don’t like planes.”

“Aviophobia,” Annabeth nodded her head in understanding.

“What?” Percy turned his head toward her, only to shut his eyes tight and press his head against the back of the chair as the plane started moving faster. It was gaining speed, getting ready to take off.

“Aviophobia,” she repeated, “It’s the fear of flying. I’m assuming you have it based how white your knuckles are turning.” She looked down at his hands wrapped tightly around the armrests.

“I guess, yeah.” Percy swallowed thickly.

Without warning, Annabeth put her book on the ground and grabbed Percy’s hands and pulled them toward her. Percy was so surprised he opened his eyes to look at her.

She captured his gaze with her own and said, “Look at me, okay? I know how bad a fear of flying can get, so just ignore everything else and just look at me and listen to my voice.”

Percy nodded numbly and kept his eyes trained on her face, getting lost in the grey storms that swirled around in her irises. He hardly felt the plane lift off and begin climbing upwards.

“I’m just going to talk, okay? I’m going to talk about nothing and you don’t have to respond. People say that’s one of my biggest flaws, being able to talk about anything and everything and nothing at the same time, but I find it works pretty well as a distraction. Because, to be honest, I’m pretty scared of flying too. Obviously not as much as you, but I find it helps to distract yourself with random thoughts,” she paused to take a breath, “Thoughts that have absolutely nothing to do with what’s going on around you. Like puppies taking a bath in a waterfall or something. And then you smile to yourself because that’s a really cute scene you’ve created in your head. And, before you know it, your moment of temporary peril and stress is over.” She stopped talking and smiled, “See? We’ve evened out.”

Percy reluctantly tore his gaze away from Annabeth and looked around. He swallowed and his ears popped, adjusting to the new altitude that they were now evenly flying at. He found himself to be completely calm. Annabeth’s ramblings had served as a perfect distraction, having slowed his heartbeat clearing his mind, but he missed the sound of her voice. He could listen to her ramble about nothing all day long.

He looked back at her and grinned, “Thanks, that really helped.”

She smiled back at him and they stayed like that for a few more seconds before they both realized they were still holding hands. They removed their hands from the others grasp awkwardly and looked around at the rest of the cabin. Percy already mourned the loss of warmth from Annabeth’s hands.

Percy cleared his throat, “So,” he said, not making eye contact, “You’re going to New York? Or is it a connecting flight?” He desperately hoped she would say she was going to New York and not somewhere else.

His silent wishes were granted, “I’m going to New York. Moving there, actually.” She responded, a grin spread across Percy’s face as he glanced down to see her hands playing with the hem of her white t-shirt. “I was born there, but when I was 15, my family moved to LA. Ten years later and I’m heading back. I’ve always liked New York better, anyway.”

Percy looked away from her hands and at the rest of her, finally registering the California tan, sleek yet toned body, and blonde hair that made her look like a typical surfer girl. But her attitude and the way she spoke made it quite obvious that she was not one to be put in the stereotypical “dumb blonde” category.

“What about you?” She asked looking up at him.

“Oh! Um, I’m heading home. To New York, I mean. I was in LA for my friend Grovers’ wedding.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Sounds nice,” she said, leaning her head against her seat with a whimsical look on her face, “I’ve never been to a wedding. Was it fun?”

“Well,” Percy laughed a little, “it wasn’t your typical wedding, that’s for sure. They’re both nature freaks, so the ceremony was in the middle of a forest. Trust me, walking in dress shoes through moss is a recipe for disaster.” He smiled at the memory of Grover slipping and nearly knocking over his newly betrothed wife, Juniper.

“They sound perfect for each other.”

“Oh, they are.”

They stayed like that for a while, just a comfortable silence between the two of them.

Eventually, Annabeth spoke up again, “So, what do you do? Like, for a living?”

“I’m a marine biologist over at the aquarium in NYC. I’ve always loved water, so it’s pretty much the perfect job.” Percy looked over at the blonde, who had a content smile on her face.

“That’s sounds cool. I used to be really into swimming back in highschool, but I quit in my junior year to focus on my studies.” Her grey eyes glinted in the sun filtering through the window.

“What did you study?” Percy tilted his head, already having picked it up from Annabeth.

“Architecture. That’s one of the reasons I’m moving back to New York. I got a job at one of the architectural firms up there and I’m going to be the designer and overseer of the construction of a building.” She smiled.

“Woah,” Percy turned toward her, excited. “That’s awesome! How old are you? 25? That’s incredible! You have to be some sort of genius.”

Percy was just kidding around about her being a genius, but she moved her head back and forth in a contemplative way, “Well…”

Percy’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding. Are you actually a-”

“Genius?” She finished as she turned her head toward him, “Technically, yes. I have an IQ of 190.”

“Oh my god.” Percy gaped, they clapped his hands together and started bowing repeatedly before her, “I’m not worthy. I’m not worthy…”

She laughed and lightly smacked the top of his head. “Stop it. I bet you’re smarter than you look.” She lifted an eyebrow.

“Well, sorry to disappoint, but you’re definitely wrong on that one, Wise Girl.” He threw a smirk her direction.

“Wise Girl?” She laughed, “Is that the best you can do? Well, I guess I can expect that from someone who spends so much time around water. It’s like your mind’s been replaced by kelp, Seaweed Brain!”

Percy put a hand over his heart is an over exaggerated gesture of mock offense. “How dare you?” He whispered.

Annabeth just laughed. And soon Percy joined in with her. They laughed at each other so hard that they got shushed by other passengers. They just looked at each other, and started laughing again.

The six hour flight went by too fast for Percy’s liking. But he loved every minute of it. Annabeth never did get around to reading her book, because the entire flight was spent by her and Percy enjoying the others’ company. Percy told outrageous stories about a summer camp he used to go to when he was a kid. He would crack jokes and make crappy puns, but Annabeth seemed to like them anyway. Annabeth told him horror stories of weird college roommates and stuck up history professors. She did horrible impersonations of famous figures that made Percy laugh so hard he cried. They learned each other’s favorite color and food, and Annabeth discovered Percy’s love for everything blue. They heard the names and descriptions of all of the the other’s closest friends, and Annabeth relayed all her plans for her newest building. 

On that plane ride, Percy and Annabeth both got that strange feeling that they had known the other for years. That they had been best friends since before they can remember. Their two personalities, even though they were completely different, seemed to mold together seamlessly. 

Percy hardly felt the plane land, and he and Annabeth walked off the plane together, still talking and laughing until they reached the point where they had to separate.

“I guess this is it, huh?” Percy asked, looking only slightly down at the girl just a few inches shorter than him.

“It doesn’t have to be.” Annabeth smiled.

As the blonde haired beauty disappeared from Percy’s sight, he looked down at the new number in his phone. And he smiled as he changed the contact name from “Annabeth Chase” to “Wise Girl”.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Did you like it? I hope you did! Leave a comment telling me what you thought about and I will be forever grateful. I'm still really new to all of this, so if you did, that would be great! If you really liked it you could leave a Kudos and my stone cold heart would warm. Bye!!!


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